"Alice's Dilemma"

Passage from "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"

Alice took up the fan and gloves… "Dear, dear! How queer everything is today! And yesterday things went on just as usual. I wonder if I've been changed in the night? Let me think: was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I'm not the same, the next question is, Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle!" And she began thinking over all the children she knew that were of the same age as herself, to see if she could have been changed for any of them.

"I'm sure I'm not Ada," she said, "for her hair goes in such long ringlets, and mine doesn't go in ringlets at all; and I'm sure I can't be Mabel, for I know all sorts of things, and she, oh! she knows such a very little! Besides, she's she, and I'm I, and -- oh dear, how puzzling it all is! I'll try if I know all the things I used to know. Let me see: four times five is twelve, and four times six is thirteen, and four times seven is -- oh dear! I shall never get to twenty at that rate! However, the Multiplication Table doesn't signify: let's try Geography. London is the capital of Paris, and Paris is the capital of Rome, and Rome -- no, that's all wrong, I'm certain! I must have been changed for Mabel!”

Reading Comprehension Questions

1) Which of the following best describes Alice's mood in the above passage?

a. confident

b. calm

c. content

d. confused

2) In the above passage, Alice is trying to answer which of the following questions?

a. Who am I?

b. Where am I?

c. What time is it?

d. Where should I go?

3) At the end of the passage, why does Alice decide that she must be Mabel?

a. because she looks like Mabel

b. because she doesn’t know the things she used to know

c. because that’s what everyone is telling her

d. because that’s who she wants to be

4) In the above passage, why does Alice make the comment, “she’s she, and I’m I” in the second paragraph?

a. to introduce herself to someone she’s just met

b. to describe the one thing she has no doubt about

c. to convince herself that she’s not someone else

d. to argue with those trying to tell her otherwise

5) In the above passage, Alice is speaking to herself. This scene is best described as which of the following?

a. dialogue

b. monologue

c. foreshadowing

d. flashback

6) What conclusion does Alice arrive to at the end of the above passage?

a. that she has been herself the entire time

b. that it’s impossible to know who you are

c. that she is someone else after all

d. that she doesn’t care who she is

Answer Key

1) Which of the following best describes Alice's mood in the above passage?

a. confident

b. calm

c. content

d. confused

2) In the above passage, Alice is trying to answer which of the following questions?

a. Who am I?

b. Where am I?

c. What time is it?

d. Where should I go?

3) At the end of the passage, why does Alice decide that she must be Mabel?

a. because she looks like Mabel

b. because she doesn’t know the things she used to know

c. because that’s what everyone is telling her

d. because that’s who she wants to be

4) In the above passage, why does Alice make the comment, “she’s she, and I’m I” in the second paragraph?

a. to introduce herself to someone she’s just met

b. to describe the one thing she has no doubt about

c. to convince herself that she’s not someone else

d. to argue with those trying to tell her otherwise

5) In the above passage, Alice is speaking to herself. This scene is best described as which of the following?

a. dialogue

b. monologue

c. foreshadowing

d. flashback

6) What conclusion does Alice arrive to at the end of the above passage?

a. that she has been herself the entire time

b. that it’s impossible to know who you are

c. that she is someone else after all

d. that she doesn’t care who she is